9

They piled into Miss Welsh's car which also happened to smell of Guerlain Fleur De Feu. Her cousin, Erich, worked in Monmouth at a remote facility located some distance from the gate they pulled up to. The first guard they encountered wore a military uniform and requested Ellie's identification. Then he took a photo of her vehicle with the license plate visible. She had to sign in before he waved her through.

"Military facility?" queried Dr. Jones.

"I think it's funded by the military. My cousin is not in the military, though."

Indy tensed a little. Rory napped in the back seat.

At the next gate all three had to show ID and sign in. They were brought into the guard house and photographed separately. Ellie told them who she was there to see and was asked to wait in her Ford Super Deluxe Tudor sedan. After a few moments the gate was opened and they were waved through.

The narrowing dirt road turned into blacktop and actual lights on poles guided them toward a low, plain squat cinderblock structure with a few civilian vehicles parked around it. They exited into cool late-night air and the silence seemed to amplify the sounds of their feet on the damp tarmac. Two uniformed men met them at the entrance. One allowed them into the building while the other went to fetch Miss Welsh's cousin.

Indy had noted sidearms on the soldiers, but nothing more threatening. Despite the remote location and numerous security checks, it appeared to be a low priority facility. The ceiling was low, the unadorned walls painted a bland shade of desert beige, the tile floors a plain grey. The site had no windows and the lighting seemed barely sufficient. "I'm going to guess you have no idea what your cousin specifically does here?" Indy muttered.

Ellie smiled grimly and gave a slight shake of her head.

They were beginning to think they'd been forgotten when they finally heard faint footsteps heading their way, and then a short, thick-bodied man who was prematurely balding approached wearing shoes with thick rubber sound-dampening soles. His eyes flicked from stranger to stranger before he took Ellie's hands and asked who her companions were.

"This is Professor Henry Jones, and…and…I'm sorry. I've quite forgotten your name."

Rory looked crestfallen. Indy smirked. "Rory McKenna," he supplied quietly.

"Yes," she said. "We have some documents we'd like you to review."

"Documents? What are they?"

She accepted them from Indy and handed them to her cousin. "Does this look like anything to you?" Indy moved as though to speak, but an upraised hand from the soft-spoken young woman silenced him.

Erich removed a small pair of eyeglasses from a pocket of his stiff white lab jacket and positioned them on his face. "Freeform association…it looks like someone was trying to interpret a very long and crazy dream."

Rory flashed a smile at Indy.

"Could someone use the same means to interpret other things? Like old writings?" asked Ellie.

"Of course," Erich told her. "The problem, of course, would be that any interpretation would be unique to the interpreter."

"How so?" asked Indy.

Erich regarded the older man over his spectacles as though he'd just noticed his presence. "Well, let's say I used a Freudian method to break down the symbolism of Dante's Inferno. I would list every key component, getting as meticulous as I wished, then beside them list a few things each item made me think of. I would extrapolate what, to me, would seem the most logical interpretation, highlighting those words that held special meaning for me."

Rory looked baffled. "Then…what you drew from it would not necessarily make sense to anyone else?"

Erich considered for a moment. "In ancient Celtic mythology, snakes represented wisdom and feminine energy. You might take the symbol of a snake and write beside it things like moon cycles, wisdom, secrecy, but you," he said, gesturing to Indy, "might have a fear of snakes and therefore interpret the symbol as deception, evil, or merely something abhorrent."

"Snakes," said Indy.

"I'd like to show these to Dr. Moore if I may," Erich said to his cousin. "She's far more knowledgeable of psychiatry and the Freudian method than I."

"Those're mine," Professor Jones interjected. "Where are you going with them?"

"Dr. Moore is here right now. May I?" Erich asked uncomfortably.

"They're my father's. They were. He passed away. I just don't want anything to happen to them."

Ellie asked, "Could he go with you?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Could Dr. Moore meet us here?"

"You have my word I'll return every one of these in the exact same condition," he assured Indy. "She may just glance at them and dismiss them as entirely unimportant."

"They're important to me," Indy said, and then grumbled, "Make sure I get every last page back."

"Thank you, Professor Jones," said Ellie's cousin. "If she has questions, you will be available?"

"I'm not going anywhere without my father's papers," he replied gruffly.